Seeing the Signs
by katecastle87
Summary: Kate Beckett finally begins to understand why everyone thinks that she and Castle should be together. What will she do with this newfound knowledge? Set anytime in Season 3. Rating will most likely change in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hi everyone! I am totally new to Fanfiction, so I hope you like my first story. I just love Castle so much, I couldn't resist. All comments and reviews are welcome. This will be a multi-chapter story if you guys like this first chapter. Admittedly, this first chapter has a slow start, but I promise you will like the next chapters. Very Cascketty!

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own these characters, but I hope I do them justice.

Kate Beckett sat back in her seat and huffed in annoyance for the fifth time that morning. She was starting to wonder what the hell was going on. She looked up at Josh across the table and squinted, trying to come up with a possible explanation for what had just happened.

"Josh, did you see that?" Kate asked, her forehead lined in worry.

"See what?" he questioned, his mouth full of the bacon and eggs he'd been trying to shove simultaneously into his mouth.

Kate cringed and sighed. Maybe this speedy breakfast between surgeries at Remy's hadn't been the best idea. Josh wasn't even making conversation; he was just filling his mouth as fast as possible. She sighed again and glanced back up at the waitress, who swiftly looked away, but not before Kate caught the look of pure hatred on the women's face.

"Kate?" Josh was staring at her, confused and clearly wondering why she wasn't eating.

"That waitress" Kate hissed in a lower voice. "She keeps giving me the evil eye."

Josh just blinked at her.

"So…" he said, drawing the word out with one eyebrow arched.

"SO, I want to know why!" Kate whispered, watching the waitress behind the curtain of hair that fell over her shoulder. She didn't understand. Maybe Josh didn't get it because he wasn't a detective, but Kate knew that human beings (for the most part) reacted to predictable situations predictably. The fact that the waitress had served her on many occasions in the past and been perfectly pleasant, even friendly, only reinforced the confusion that Kate felt.

"Are you going to eat that?" Josh asked her, eying her full plate. Kate glanced back at him and shoved her food across the table.

"Go ahead," she muttered, "I'm not hungry."

"Thanks!" he smiled, and picked up his fork again. "This food is fantastic! How did you find this place?"

"Oh, Castle and I stopped here randomly one day on the way back to the precinct from a crime scene…" Kate trailed off and snuck a peek at Josh's face, knowing she'd ruined his appetite. She rolled her eyes at the darkened expression on his face. Ever since Castle had reentered her life (and consequently her work stories) Josh had taken an immediate dislike to him. It was to the point where mentioning Castle could potentially ruin an entire date.

"Oh" Josh said, and predictably put his fork down and pushed the plate away. "Well…I have to get back to the hospital…" Josh said quickly, ducking his head to avoid Kate's exasperated gaze.

"Fine" Kate gritted her teeth. "Will I see you tonight or should I head to the Old Haunt with the boys after work?" she arched her brows, implying that 'boys' included Castle.

"No!" Josh almost shouted. "No," he said again, lowering his voice and getting up from the table. "I'll be there" he smiled, leaned over and pecked her lips before leaving.

Kate started to get up herself, but managed to catch the same waitress, now glaring at her from behind the front counter. That was it. Kate was a nice person, which meant giving someone the benefit of the doubt – perhaps the waitress was just having a shitty day, or had just been dumped. Any number of possibilities ran through Kate's mind. But the fact was, the woman was not glaring at random restaurant patrons. She was solely glaring at Kate, and it was time to find out why. She stood up from the table and made her way to the cash register. As incensed as she was (her mood had not been improved by Josh's parting words), Kate knew she'd get a more satisfactory explanation from the woman if she remained pleasant and calm. So when she said, "Excuse me?" to the woman behind the counter, she smiled and spoke softly. However, when the woman completely ignored her and turned to talk to a colleague, Kate was angry. "Excuse me, what is your problem?" she said in a much louder voice, speaking with interrogation room authority and forcing the waitress to respond.

"Problem? I don't see a problem." the waitress intoned sweetly, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Kate frowned. Normally her 'authority' voice and the fact that her badge and gun were prominently displayed on her hip invoked certain predictable reactions in the people she questioned, whether or not they were in an interrogational setting. This waitress was not conforming to the rules.

"Well I DO see a problem," Kate ground out, putting one hand on the counter and leaning in closer to the waitress, glancing down at her nametag. "You've been glaring at me all morning, Meghan."

"You're right" Meghan stated nonchalantly, and began folding cutlery into napkins efficiently.

Kate stood up straight and continued to stare at Meghan with disbelief. "Well, WHY?" Kate's voice was now not only annoyed but frustrated and shrill as well.

Meghan stopped folding and met Kate's gaze for the first time. Her expression was troubled and anxious, but anger was present as well, which only confused Kate further.

"Look," Meghan stated without dropping her gaze. "I've seen you in here plenty of times, right? I'm sure you seen me before" she said, and looked at Kate, who was nodding in confirmation. "You seemed like such a nice person – you were always kind to me, you left a good tip, and you even bothered to treat me with respect, which is not exactly the norm in the service industry. You also always came in with Mr. Castle." And here she paused, looking at Kate to see if the name had caused a reaction.

Kate was now more bewildered than ever. What did this have to do with Castle? When she'd found this place with Castle, they'd both agreed that the food was fantastic. But the main reason they came back again and again was not for the food. The service was great, but beyond that, no one bothered them. If anyone recognized Castle as the famous author Richard Castle, they either didn't show it or they didn't care. The lack of hype suited both of them just fine.

Kate's curiosity was piqued. Meghan was angry, that was certain, and it had something to do with Castle. It was also clear, however, that it had nothing to do with Castle's celebrity status. Meghan seemed angry with Kate specifically.

"Yes, I usually come for dinner or lunch with Castle" Kate confirmed, prompting Meghan to continue.

"Well," Meghan said, her expression relating her confusion with Kate's response, "when that guy came in to meet you today, he kissed you when he sat down. And based on that I can only assume that you are cheating on your boyfriend Mr. Castle with this new guy."

Kate's eyebrows shot up with Meghan's admission. _What the hell?_ Why did Meghan assume that she and Castle were dating?


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So here's Chapter 2 everyone! Thanks for all the reviews and story alerts so far – I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Also, bear with me – Castle will be showing up next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Kate stood at the cash register in stunned silence. Her body was still, but her mind was whirling, and her bafflement at this entire situation resulted in a totally unpredictable reaction. Usually when people (namely Lanie) confronted her about her relationship with Rick, she was able to see the emotional assault approaching and shut down her feelings on the subject immediately, as if there were a set of steel doors between herself and her emotions. She went on autopilot. And autopilot ran a regular, foreseeable course: get up, go to work, eat, sleep and see her boyfriend Josh whenever possible. Only now this stranger, Meghan, had managed to make a sneak attack. There had been no foreshadowing. And as many times as Lanie or Esposito or Ryan or Montgomery or even her own father, for heaven's sake, had told her that she and Castle would be good together, she never once recognized that she shared anything other than the strong bond of partnership with him. Only now, those steel doors were no longer in place, and try as she might to slam them shut, the floodgates had been opened. With Meghan's words came feelings she already associated with Rick: affection, warmth, and a sense of loyalty, trust, and friendship. But suddenly, there was an entirely new set of feelings to process: belonging, attachment, a deep-seated feeling of contentment. And above all, there was an odd jumble of feelings that she could not recognize, but that made heat rise in her chest and tingle down through her fingers and toes and up to her face.

"Wh…what do you mean?" Kate stuttered, trying to stay focused on the task at hand: convincing Meghan that she and Rick were not together. And there it was. Castle had abruptly become _Rick _in her mind in those few precious seconds. Meghan quirked her eyebrows at Kate and repeated herself, only this time she said it very slowly and with great emphasis, as if she was trying to explain something to a small child:

"You. Are. Cheating. On. Mr. Castle."

"No I'm not!" Kate blurted out, before backtracking, "Castle and I are not together."

"So you broke up?" Meghan asked, and for some reason she looked disappointed as she said it.

"No, no, no…" Kate said, trying to stay cool and collected, "he and I were never together. We've never dated." Suddenly it clicked. Meghan must read the tabloids. Kate knew that occasionally there were stories about her and Castle, accompanied by pictures of them leaving crime scenes together, or driving in the squad car. Once there had been one of him helping her out of a cab after a long day, which had resulted in much teasing at the precinct. Kate's tensed body immediately relaxed. _I've overreacted_, she thought, glancing at Meghan's confused expression, and decided to set her straight. "Meghan, I know that Castle and I are sometimes in the tabloids, but that stuff is all wishful thinking on the parts of diehard Nikki Heat fans. We're not dating, or secretly engaged, and I am most _certainly_ not pregnant with his child…" Kate trailed off, realizing that her recent words had not only sent a jolt of warmth to the pit of her stomach, but had also apparently only confused Meghan further.

"What _are_ you talking about?" Meghan asked, shrugging her shoulders. "Who's Nikki Heat? And why would you and Mr. Castle be in the tabloids?"

_OK this is getting ridiculous_, Kate thought, struggling to understand. If Meghan didn't know who Nikki Heat or Richard Castle were, then she had obviously not read some outrageous story about a secret relationship. Which meant that… " Meghan why did you think that Castle and I were together?' Kate asked directly, hoping for a reasonable answer.

Meghan now had the grace to look slightly embarrassed at her faux pas. " Well, I…I'm sorry about the misunderstanding Detective, but I thought it was obvious. I mean, so did the rest of the staff," Meghan said, and waved her hand at the staff members behind her, who had obviously been eavesdropping, because they all nodded vigorously.

"OK" Kate started, and shut her eyes tight in order to stay calm. "OK" she said again, "start from the beginning. What caused you to believe that Castle and I were together? I know for a fact that he never kissed me." _At least not here_, she thought to herself. There was no way anyone else had witnessed their undercover kiss in the alley that night.

Meghan now looked amused at Kate's worry and confusion over the matter. She chuckled aloud. "He didn't have to," she said, and grinned widely at the panic that was suddenly present in Kate's eyes. Then she decided to take pity on her. If Kate honestly didn't see what was right in front of her, then the chances of her favorite couple ever getting together were nil. "Look," Meghan said, and dropped the grin, "let's go sit down. I'm on my break anyways, and I'll explain everything."

After they were seated Kate mentally prepared herself for what she was about to hear. She was aware of the irony of the circumstances. She'd managed to avoid this conversation with her best friend (whom she saw basically everyday) for the last two and a half years, only to be suddenly assailed by a complete stranger.

"Alright." Meghan said. "So you are either blind or you don't want to see what everyone else sees." Kate frowned at this impudent woman. How dare she? They barely knew each other. _Then again, _Kate thought, _you just asked her to explain. Give it a chance. _Meghan hadn't spoken in a rude tone of voice; in fact, she seemed smugly amused with the situation. When Kate didn't respond, Meghan continued. "I can tell that you're a matter of fact woman. You're a detective after all, and from the hours that you come here to eat, I can tell you live for the job. So, I am going to lay this out for you, nice and neat. You need evidence right?" Meghan paused for confirmation. Kate nodded.

"Yes, evidence would be a plus." Kate smiled and leaned back in her seat. _This will be good_, she thought, and smirked. She was a homicide detective with the best solve rate in New York City. Not much slipped past her agile mind and clever eye. If this woman thought she had evidence, Kate was happy to be amused by her crazy theories. She still had half an hour before work.

"OK." Meghan stated, and her voice was sharp. She could tell that Kate was underestimating her skills of observation. But Meghan had been a waitress for twenty years. 'People watching' was a skill she had been honing since she had first begun. She was rarely wrong about people. _I will make this woman see what she's missing_, Meghan promised herself. "Alright, here we go. Fact one: Mr. Castle is rarely further than an arm's reach away from you. That may seem like an insignificant detail, but to me it indicates that he cares deeply for you – he's there to ensure that you are safe, well, and happy at all times. Fact two: No matter how many people are in a room, how loud the decibel level is, or how many other things are going on around him, Mr. Castle always listens to what _you_ are saying first. In other words, he not only cares for your physical well-being, but also your emotional and mental well-being. Fact three: Body language. Mr. Castle listens and speaks to you purely through body language, which says to me that he is deeply in tune with your thoughts and feelings, and that he knows you well enough to interpret without a translator. Fact four: Mr. Castle finds ways of making physical contact with you. When he hands you the salt, for example, his fingers linger under yours for those few extra moments. When you get up to leave, he is there holding your coat. When he opens a door for you, he stands halfway in so that you have to brush past him. And lastly, fact five: he literally _revolves_ around you. When you move, so does he. His body and mind are tuned to one channel at all times – _yours._

Kate swallowed thickly. Meghan was making an excellent case. She was suddenly remembering the moment two days ago when Rick had handed her a file she'd needed and run his index finger over her palm during the handoff. She was remembering yesterday, when they'd been standing at the murder board, and she'd thought of something to add to the timeline. He'd turned to her at the exact moment she'd turned to him. She had lost her train of thought and flushed when the moment was suspended for far too long, then abruptly tried to make a joke out of it by asking if he was telepathic. She was suddenly realizing that Meghan was right. Rick was incredibly in tune with her. It had happened so slowly over time that she no longer noticed when he anticipated her needs or finished her sentences.

"I'm not finished," Meghan said, and interrupted Kate's thoughts.

"You're not?" Kate wondered. _What else could there possibly be?_ Kate thought, suddenly hoping that Meghan had not witnessed an extended gaze or intimate '_Always_' between her and Rick. That was private.

"I'm not." Meghan responded, and made eye contact with Kate to make sure she was paying attention before she continued. "Everything I just said, all that evidence that points to an intimate relationship between the two of you? Well, it applies to you as well."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, and was suddenly unsure that she wanted to know the answer at all.

"I mean that it works both ways," Meghan pointed out. "You know, vice versa and all that. You revolve around each other. It's not a one-way street. The biggest reason that caused me to assume that the two of you were together was because you were so obviously in love with each other."

Kate gasped, then had to grapple with her focus, taking deep breaths to avoid hyperventilation. _Love?_


	3. Chapter 3

AN: OK everyone, so this chapter isn't super long, because I have big plans for the next couple of chapters, but I needed to tie up some loose ends first. You'll see what I mean. Also, Castle is in this chapter, but he doesn't get a lot to say (neither does Kate). I needed to clear Kate's mind a little because there is going to be a whole lot of dialogue and banter in the coming chapters. Thanks to everyone that's reading this story! I hope you stick with it until next chapter – it's gonna be good! I will probably change the rating next chapter or possibly the one after that. Keep reviewing, because I honestly love getting truthful opinions. If anyone's unhappy with where this story is going (I can't see why; it's pretty fluffy and will stay that way) I'd love to hear why. Otherwise, I also love happy reviewers!

Kate was sitting at her desk in the precinct, still wearing her jacket and staring at a blank computer screen when she realized that she didn't remember walking back to work. In fact, she didn't remember the elevator ride up to Homicide or the stop at the security desk either. All she remembered was a string of words being beaten into her skull by the rhythm of her heartbeat. _Evidence. Physical. Emotional. Caring. Touch. Revolve. Rick. Love. _She chanted the eight words over and over again all the way back to the precinct. Her body was subconsciously trying to keep up with her thoughts; for every heartbeat and every word, she took a step forward. It was difficult to keep time though, because the last two words always made her heart stutter and then abruptly speed up. Even now, sitting in her chair, the words _Rick _and _Love_ made her heart beat so hard that she felt the reverberation of it all over her body; from the pads of each finger and the blood in her ears, through the pit of her stomach and down to her feet.

After Meghan had gotten up from the table, she'd patted Kate on the shoulder and told her that breakfast was on the house. Somewhere in there had been an apology for butting into her life and for the misunderstanding, which had lead to their conversation in the first place, but Kate barely remembered that either. She was too busy gasping in air while trying to keep her façade of serenity. She knew that she had not been very successful when an older gentleman stopped her as she was leaving the diner and asked if she was in need of medical attention.

Now, after finally becoming aware of her surroundings, Kate closed her eyes in order to dredge up the strength to switch to Detective Beckett after her emotional rollercoaster of a morning. _I have to forget about this_, Kate thought, _just until tonight. Tonight I can process and reprocess until I am processed out. But right now, I have to be Detective Beckett for a few hours. _After the promise she'd made to herself Kate found it easy to open her eyes. After all, she was the master of compartmentalization. And personal issues, no matter how pressing, did not belong in the work place. Unfortunately for Kate, Richard Castle did belong in her work place. And until the moment she opened her eyes and found a pair of light blue ones staring back, she had no idea just how much her emotions had shifted in the past two hours.

He was close to her. Too close. Somewhere in the back of her mind Kate realized that Rick had always had a habit of invading her personal space. It had never bothered her much (except at the very beginning of their partnership) because she felt comfortable with him. But now, the nearness of him was overpowering her senses. She felt swamped and all of a sudden she was focusing on the flecks of silver and periwinkle in his blue eyes in order to stamp down the flush that was beginning to creep up her neck. It wasn't until he waved a hand in front of her face that she realized he'd been speaking.

"Earth to Beckett!" Castle trumpeted out, catching the attention of several detectives at their workstations. " I said, are you OK? You looked really hot, and I….oh no, no, no" Castle said, smiling and backtracking when he noticed Kate's widened eyes, "that's not what I meant. Hot as in warm, I mean. Like, fever warm. Your face is flushed."

Kate sighed. Her tendency to blush was going to be the death of her today. "NO Ri…Castle, I'm fine, I just need to take my jacket off." Kate blundered as she struggled to free her arms. Unfortunately, she was so rattled that she was having trouble performing the simplest of tasks, including removing her coat.

Castle frowned at her in concern. Kate was definitely weird today. He wondered for a moment if something had happened between her and Josh, but he squelched the notion as soon as the thought was fully formed. He had learned long ago that it was much better for his health not to imagine what went on between his detective and her boyfriend in their private lives. "Here, let me" he said after watching her struggle for a moment. He walked behind her and slid the jacket easily down her shoulders, freeing her arms. He couldn't resist readjusting her tousled hair as he retuned to his own seat.

Kate tensed her body quickly as she felt Rick smooth her hair back into place, and just managed to suppress the violent shiver that coursed down her spine. _What's wrong with me?_ she thought, leaning back in her chair and avoiding Rick's eyes. _Rick has been making those types of little gestures for ages. It's never affected me like this before_. Kate had been questioning herself all morning with confusing results, but this time, the answer came swiftly: _That rush of emotion that just coursed through your veins? It's not new. Those feelings have been there all along, building and building, but lying dormant. The damn was bound to burst eventually._ Kate leaned her head back and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. _This wasn't supposed to happen right now. Tonight, I was supposed to process tonight. _Somehow, the fact that Rick had managed to make her break her promise to herself so quickly and easily (and without effort) was not really surprising. _OK, _Kate thought, _if I can't process later, I can at least try to keep from getting overwhelmed. _The answer to Kate's problems was unexpectedly simple. Today, and today only, she would let herself experience what her body and mind yearned to experience. She would not try to slam the steel doors on her emotions. She would not keep a tight rein on her body's reactions. She would not initiate either, but she would have to let nature run its course if she wanted to avoid a mental meltdown. _Of course_, she thought, _I have to draw the line somewhere. There is still Josh. _But the voice in her head that mentioned Josh was tiny, and sounded like someone was whispering from very far away.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hi everyone. I'd like issue a public apology. I definitely never meant to leave this story for so long…but you know how it is – life just gets in the way sometimes. So anyways, I'm back now and this story is shaping up nicely. There'll be another chapter posted tomorrow, I promise. This was sort of a transitional chapter. I want this story to be about Kate, because I think Castle's more than ready to dive into a relationship with her, and my main intent is to show how Kate comes to realize that she is too. But Castle had to be pacified somehow – we couldn't have him butting in on Kate's revelation and pushing her before she's ready to admit to anything. Hence, a little of what's going on in Castle's mind. But… don't expect to hear a lot from him. This story is mostly Kate's point of view. Anyhoo, here is the new chapter, and please review because I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow and probably the day after that as well, and I'd love your feedback before I do! **

_Last chapter: Kate arrives at the precinct and quickly formulates a plan to continue acting as her normal self until work is over. Unfortunately, once Castle arrives, she realizes that her traitorous body is going to give her away. In order to deal with this new onslaught of emotions, she's decided to go with the flow (within reason – she and Josh are still together) and see what happens. _

Kate regretted her decision almost immediately. She was not really sure she was going to be able to handle Castle today. And the funny thing was, as much as this was about Castle, it was also not about him at all. After all, Castle hadn't changed one bit in the last three hours, or even in the past three weeks. He was still her charming, supportive, trustworthy best friend. No, this was not about Castle. This was about her. This was about her total epiphany of the heart. Because now, she noticed all these tiny, infinitesimal little details regarding him that she'd never noticed before. For instance, she had always noticed how much he stared at her - she used to find it creepy, but it had gradually become this completely endearing, _adorable_ part of her day. And now, she realized that she hadn't been creeped out by it in a long time. And unfortunately, the epiphany she'd had was apparently heightening not only physical sensation, but also her awareness of him in general. She'd been doing paper work for an hour now, during which time he'd barely touched her. He was doing what he always did when he was bored – staring at her and playing with his phone - but she knew without a doubt that he'd been noticing her new reactions to him.

An hour ago, Kate had smiled smugly to herself. She'd thought of a way to keep this situation under control. She would let him see the way he affected her – she would just pretend that nothing had changed in the process. So, the next time he brushed against her, or hovered over her, or caught her eye and smiled (the smile was the worst – it was his special smile that he smiled only for her, and it always made her muscles feel like jelly and caused her skin to overheat quickly) she would react to it in whatever way her body deemed appropriate, and then promptly continue with her work as if nothing had happened. Therefore, instead of having to deal with Cocky Castle, she would confuse him and get the chance to see Insecure Castle (a rather rare occurrence). That was the plan.

Her plan backfired almost at the starting gate. Kate mulled over the events of the last hour and began to seriously wonder if she was going to make it to the end of the day without making some drastic, life-changing personal decisions. Finally, a body dropped, interrupting her musings and Kate got the call that her team was needed at a crime scene. _Thank God_, she thought, getting up from and chair and gesturing for the boys and Castle to follow her. _I don't know how much longer I was gonna last. _

**1 hour ago…**

"Beckett?" Castle asked, catching her eye over the desk.

"Yes, Castle?" Kate replied, and smiled softly at him. Her smile dropped when ten seconds ticked by without a response. Rick seemed to be deep in thought, his slight frown etching a crease between his eyes. She wanted to reach out her hand, tilt his face down and drop a kiss on his brow – so much so that her hand had dropped her pen and was reaching out to him before she'd consciously made the decision. Kate quickly pretended to adjust her collar and dropped her gaze as she repeated herself: "Castle, hello? Anyone home?"

Castle jerked his head back up to meet her eyes and blinked. Something was going on with Kate. What had just transpired only confirmed it. He'd been trying to annoy her all morning. It had started out as a way of testing her boundaries – something he did almost daily – but his focus had changed when her reactions to his antics had displayed a side of her that he'd never encountered before. Even just now, when he'd interrupted her paperwork; usually, she would have given him a death glare and then ignored him. Today, she had looked up before he'd even finished saying her name, and smiled at him. Not her regular smile. And yes, he definitely knew the difference. At work, her smile was all business – a quick, no-nonsense turn of the mouth that didn't reach her eyes. When she was alone with him, she let her mouth open for a tooth smile, and he could tell she was genuinely amused by the sparkle dancing in her eyes. This most recent smile was in a league of it's own. Her lips had remained soft, as the corners of her mouth had turned up, dimpling her left cheek. The sparkle in her eyes had been fanned into a fire. He had never seen her smile like that before, and he'd been momentarily stunned. He'd been about to ask her if something was wrong, but he was too intrigued now to ask when he knew that she would tell him that nothing was wrong. In fact, he didn't want to alert her that he knew something was off. She was a mystery today, and he was going to solve it. And he knew just how to do it too. _I always back off, don't I? _Castle thought, lost in Kate's eyes. _What if today I just…keep pushing? Keep testing those shaky boundary lines we drew so long ago? Of course, I'll need to keep my cool. Don't make it too obvious. Maybe she'll…_and abruptly a well-rehearsed image blossomed in his mind – of Kate and him, alone in the precinct…Castle suddenly screwed up his eyes and sighed loudly. His conscience had made a rather sudden appearance and barged into his current fantasy of kissing Kate by her desk. _Josh. Shit, _Castle thought. _OK, well…I'll play by the rules. But I'm still gonna push those boundaries. _

"CASTLE!" Kate nearly shouted this time, and startled Castle away from his thoughts. "Can I help you with something?" _Yes, _Castle thought,_ you sure can! You can dump Josh so I can tell you how I feel about you._ Discarding this immediately as an inappropriate response, Castle decided on his first course of action. He would bring out the big guns today. There would be no charming Castle, no cocky Castle, no arrogant, wiseass Castle for her today. No, if he wanted to push those lines and make some real progress, he'd need to be completely real with her – stripped Castle. At this point Castle bit his lip to keep from smiling at his choice of words, then met her eyes again.

"Oh, sorry Kate – I was just thinking, maybe we could get some lunch later? Remy's? I was supposed to go with Alexis, but she bailed on me when Ashley asked her out." Castle pouted as he spoke the last bit.

Kate felt another smile tugging at her lips and instead of coughing to cover it up, as she usually would have done, she let it bloom. He was being a baby about this Ashley thing again, and she couldn't help but find it adorable. She found herself wondering if he'd be this overprotective of a second or third child. An image of a little boy and girl with a combination of Rick's features and her own popped into her mind. _Oh God, _Kate thought, _how deep in this am I?_ But she didn't try to remove the image – she would stick to the plan and let this thing between them play out today. _Wait. Why is he calling me Kate? _"I'd like that, Rick" Kate answered, before hastily turning back to her paperwork. The way Rick was pouting made her want to reach over and run her thumb along his protruding bottom lip, then lean in and capture it with her mouth. And as much as she wanted to stick to the plan, she also knew there were some rules that she would not break, as long as Josh was in the picture. She suddenly felt the urge to call him up and break things off over the phone. _No_, Kate thought_. You're in the heat of the moment. Get through today, then reevaluate when you're at home alone. _

Castle's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. She'd called him Rick. And the way she'd answered him made it sound like she was agreeing to something a lot more intimate than lunch. Why did he feel like the lines were being blurred before he'd even tried to move them? What in the hell was going on, anyways, was he in the twilight zone? _Just go with the flow, _Castle thought. _But if she'd teasing me, it's gonna hurt at the end of the day. _Consciously, Castle knew that'd he'd already made himself vulnerable. Kate could easily crush him if she chose to. He just had to trust that he was right, that _this _was right – and that the reward would be worth the effort. "Good," Castle responded, returning her smile. "It's a date then." Kate's head jerked back up, eyes wide. She tried to cover her shock by nodding and reaching for a pen from the stash in the cup on her desk, but managed instead to fumble through them before knocking it's entire contents onto the floor. _Great, _Kate thought, watching as Rick dashed to retrieve them, _smooth. _She stared at Rick's ass under her desk for a moment before her phone rang. As she picked it up she caught Ryan and Esposito watching her with curiosity in their eyes. They'd never seen their boss so unhinged at work. _Great, _Kate thought, _last thing I need is for the boys to notice that something's up. _

"Beckett." she spoke brusquely.

**AN: Don't hate on me, I promise that Josh won't be in the picture for much longer. And personally, I don't think I'd like Kate's character quite so much if she cheated on Josh – even if it is with Castle. Any sort of physical element is considered cheating, in my book. Which is why Josh won't be around much longer **** Expect him to be gone before Kate forms concrete opinions on her and Castle's relationship as well – cheating is more than physical, after all. The most hurtful part can be emotional. Also, I'm definitely still going to up the rating. I'd like your input as to how much, though. I'm thinking I'll go T and then write a filler M chapter that can be read or skipped without changing the plot. Thoughts? **


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